BY-PRODUCTS OF THE INDUSTRY 161 



per pound (retail price 2/- per pound). The control 

 was removed in 1919, and immediately the wholesale 

 price rose to 2/8 per pound. 



Cacao Shell. 



Although I have described cacao butter as a by- 

 product, the only true by-product of the combined 

 cocoa and chocolate industry is cacao shell. I ex- 

 plained in the previous chapter how it is separated 

 from the roasted bean. As they come from the husking 

 or winnowing machine, the larger fragments of shell 

 resemble the shell of monkey-nuts (ground nuts or pea 

 nuts), except that the cacao shells are thinner, more 

 brittle and of a richer brown colour. The shell has a 

 pleasant odour in which a little true cocoa aroma can 

 be detected. The small pieces of shell look like bran, 

 and, if the shell be powdered, the product is wonder- 

 fully like cocoa in appearance, though not in taste or 

 smell. As the raw cacao bean contains on the average 

 about twelve and a half per cent, of shell, it is evident 

 that the world production must be considerable (about 

 36,000 tons a year), and since it is not legitimately 

 employed in cocoa, the brains of inventors have been 

 busy trying to find a use for it. In some industries the 

 by-product has proved on investigation to be of greater 

 value than the principal product a good instance of 

 this is glycerine as a by-product in soap manufacture- 

 but no use for the husk or shell of cacao, which gives it 

 any considerable commercial value, has yet been dis- 

 covered. There are signs, however, that its possible 

 uses are being considered and appreciated. 



For years small quantities of cacao shell, under the 

 name of " miserables," have been used in Ireland and 

 other countries for producing a dilute infusion for 

 drinking. Although this " cocoa tea " is not unpleasant, 

 and has mild stimulating properties, it has never been 

 popular, and even during the war, when it was widely 

 advertised and sold in England under fancy names at 



